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Salman’s hit and run case : 64 witnesses to be examined

Fresh
trials for Salman Khan’s 2002 hit and run case has begun on Tuesday and
prosecution has given a list of 64 witnesses to the court for examining. The
case dates back to 2002 September. In the wee hours of the night, Salman was
driving a land cruiser and it drove over pedestrians sleeping on the pavement. The
accident killed one and injured four.

The
list of 64 witnesses was submitted to the Sessions Judge DW Deshpande. However,
Deshpande has deferred the date of trial to February 12 and has asked the state
to file additional documents if they wanted to begin a fresh trial.

The
prosecution later informed the court that Law and Judiciary has not given
permission to begin fresh trials. The court has asked the prosecution to tell
whether they wanted a fresh appeal.

In
its letter to the Government, the prosecution said that the judge held a fresh
trial. It also said that ‘there was no provision in law to hold a fresh trial
and the evidence adduced in a court could not be discarded’.

The
prosecution put that it would be difficult for them to trace all the witnesses
and re examine them. The prosecution also argued that the statements which were
recorded earlier can be used now as they were recorded in front of a
magistrate. The statements cannot be discarded.

On
5th December the court ordered for a fresh trial in this case. The
witnesses examined earlier were called in court on a mild charge on the actor. The
charge of culpable homicide on the actor was introduced midway in the case and
so a fresh trial was required.

The
charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder attracts an imprisonment of
10 years. The milder charge of negligent driving attracts an imprisonment of 2
years.

The
case of Salman Khan has been getting dragged in the court for over a decade
now. Earlier the magistrate examined 17 witnesses but after the charge of
culpable homicide introduced, he directed the case to sessions court as such
cases are tried in higher court.

With
just two days left for the release of Salman’s movie ‘Jai Ho’, the twist in the
case comes as a de-motivating factor for the actor. Salman is starring in this
movie opposite newbie Daisy Shah. We wish ‘Jai Ho’ team all the best.